As we live in a mostly peaceful time, it is so easy to forget why we are a free people.

Saturday, May 26, 2001

As we live in a mostly peaceful time, it is so easy to forget why we are a free people. So, it is our duty as Americans and patriots who love this land to ensure that every one who breathes the fresh air of freedom is reminded of the price paid and of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

– The young and idealistic doughboy of World War I. His country needed him and he went willingly. More than 116,000 Americans lost their lives in that war.

– During World War II, Americans again fought, not just for themselves, but for the entire world. And 400,000 died.

– Then came the biting cold of Korea. There, on a frozen peninsula, 37,000 Americans paid the price.

– In Vietnam, 58,000 lost their lives and thousands more remain unaccounted for to this very day.

– And during the mercifully short Persian Gulf War, another 300 Americans died to preserve someone else’s freedom, to save someone else’s homeland.

We should never forget these sacrifices.